Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Let's not lose sight of the Drugs.

Is it too cynical to think that Schapelle Corby's release is gonna be celebrated here with the release of the tellie movie? I bet that the scheduling will be determined by her release and it would not surprise me to learn that the making of it was decided by a wink wink nudge nudge about her probable parole success.

I have no firm opinion about her guilt or innocence and I will probably record the movie so that I can watch without all the bloody ads, but I will be watching with an acute antennae looking for lies and bias. I rather think that no one is ever going to learn the truth.

A pretty girl on a typical aussie hol to Bali, with a bag full of drugs, caught and thrown into jail, well the story line is just too delicious not to eat up and spit out onto the tellie. And now as I am sitting with my feet up with the tellie playing in the background, there is breaking news about her release.

I hope that all this does not romanticise drug use. With the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman 'crucified on a needle', and now Corby's early release, drugs are certainly front and centre in the media. Except that the drugs are not really front and centre, it's the celebrity of it all that is making the big headlines.

Kids make choices about drugs every day and I would hate to think that mainstream coverage minimises the danger.

A change to the legal drinking age to 20 or 21 is being mooted, because of the very real possibility of binge drinking, damaging the unfinished brains of our young people. I am not convinced about the idea or how it might even be enforced, but the discussion can be no bad thing.

The truth is that young people have always and will always push the envelope as they consider themselves invincible.

It'd be wonderful to do a bit of a 'Sleeping Beauty' spell on kids we think might be at most risk so that they might sort of sleep through those years where damage can be brutal and their ability to cognitively choose wisely most impaired.

There are no fairy tales and we all just need to keep an eye out on the ones we love, and talk and chat and ask and discuss and google and email and cut out articles and put 'em on the fridge.